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Did Red Bull ditch Sainz because of Verstappen? The Spaniard finally breaks silence

15:28, 13 Jul

Updated: 16:51, 13 Jul

byTobia Elia

Carlos Sainz addressed the issue of his missed opportunity to join Red Bull last season, taking the chance to clarify his current relationship with Max Verstappen.

During last year’s silly season, which brought a real shake-up to the current grid — especially among the top teams — Carlos Sainz was forced to switch teams.

At the start of the season, news broke that eventually led to the official announcement of Lewis Hamilton’s move — leaving Mercedes after twelve seasons to take on what could be the final challenge of his career in Maranello, replacing the Spanish driver.

The son of the multiple World Rally Champion waited a long time, hoping to decide on his future, ending up eventually with Williams after realizing he had no real chance of driving a race-winning car in 2025.

For a long time, there was talk of a possible move to Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen — a prospect that ultimately faded, as history has shown.

Sainz and his relationship with Verstappen

As a guest on the High Performance podcast, the Spaniard was asked whether it was precisely the Dutchman who prevented him from joining the Milton Keynes outfit: ''This is what people have concluded or what people are trying to to explain it or to understand it.''

''The only thing I can say, you need to go and ask Christian or, or whoever you seem competent to answer this question.''

''The only thing I could say is I genuinely get on well with Max. This is what people don't see from the outside. We had a rivalry on our first year in Formula One in Toro Rosso, but it was a relatively healthy rivalry in terms of him and me, the way we used to go about racing.''

Sainz finally added: ''Now we get on really well. So if that's the reason, I don't understand why they wouldn't want me next to Max, because I think we would actually be a very strong pairing in Formula One.''